Preparing electrodes for electric welding or soldering.



STATES PATENT oEEIoiE.

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. To all whom it may concern which :tliefollowing is a specification. I

' This invention is for improvementsin or relating to electric welding or soldering. Inflh'y previous U. S. A. Patent No. 948764,

.datedQFeb. 8, 1910, I have described .a method and'apparatus for weldin or-solder- 'ing metals electrically. Since t e date of that'patentI have investigated many details of that process and apparatus leading to particularly beneficial results. For example, I

have 'dISOOVGIGd compositions 'of materials particularly suitable for the formation of the cover. of partly fireproof and normally to' say the'se'cond classconductor, in whiclil 1 by which mechanical chemical and physical the weldin or soldering metals is incased.

I have a so discovered particularmethods advantages may be imparted "to the metal, thus forming the weld or solder by the addition of certain ingredients to the material of which the cover is made.

' Dealing first'with the normal action of the cover or sheath the desirable qualities aimed at are :-(1) That the cover shall generally form a crater at the operating end of the rod of welding or soldering metal, that is to say, that the edges of the cover shall project a short distance beyond the end of the rod while the process is in operation. (2) That the edges of the crater shall be automatically removed as the rod of metal diminishes in length so that the form of the crater shall remain thesame during the process of welding or soldering. (.3) That the cover shall in certain cases beconsumed in the-same proportion as the welding material, without forming a crater, as for example when welding or soldering level sur: faces, whereby the cover may be made so thin that it falls ofi' without forming a crater, as well as when the cover, to suit oonkalis or reducing materials which burn or i 1 Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 29, 1912. Serial No, 674,167.

practically non-conducting material, that is; p

certain work, contains such materials as al-' that which exists at the working end of'the electrode during-the 1 operation. (4) That the material constituting the cover shall form a thin sleeve of slag around the 'metal which is being projected from the rod on to the work's'o that the molten metal is pro- Patented'Oct. 27, 1914.

tectedfrom the action of the air and is inclosed as it 'wereina little crucible in which any chemical reactions take place. For these purposesit-is advisable to use different thicknessesof sleeve for different operations. For.

ordinary level welding, that is to say, where the rod can be held with its operating point downward, the .cover' can be comparatively hin as'stated above, the cover dropping off wlthout forming a crater. For welding vertical joints the cover is made somewhat thicker andforwelding joints from underheath, that is tosa'y, whenthe operating oint' of" the rod is. upward, the cover has to be still thicker that is to say it has to be sufliciently. thick to the above-mentioned unctions;

The producing of the cover takes place in the following manner: The ingredients are crushed and all mixed together in a finely the mixture attains the consistency of a thin paste until a cover 1 of the desired thickness surrounds the rod entirely or partly, supposing the welding materials to be iron, a rod of say 5mm. it acquires for level weld- 'inga coating up to a mm., for welding vertically'up to 1 mm. and for welding on the underside up to 2 mm. The'cover. having been applied, the rods are dried, standing in an inclined position; carbonic acid is now developed and its evolution renders the cover somewhat porous and brittle. When the cover is dry the rods are ready to be used as electrodes. Such part of the cover, as may project beyond the end of the rod, is re-' moved in order that the working end of the rod may obtain propercontact with the object to be welded. I l f I The ingredients of the cover may for ex ample be as follows :"250- grams crushed er fo-rm "satisfactorily paste. Theelectrode'metal which takes the form of a thin metal rod is dipped in the powdered' state and pure water or other suitable liquid, as spirits or the like, is

' added until, while being constantly stirred, '80

limestone (CaCO 90 grams carbonate of 1 in melting,

potassium (K CO 60 grams zirconiumoxid (ZrO 10 grams carbon (C), 75 grams magnesium-oxid (MgO), 15 grams silicate of alumina (HAlSi One or more of the above ingredients may also besubstituted by suitable proportions of dolomite, bauxite, china-clay, carbids, etc. To the ingredients named some acid or similar body adapted to develop carbonic acid from the ingredients should be added. Such body might for-1nstance comprise 100 grams KN aSiO and 120 grams B 0 I The most suitable temperature of the water for the paste is 15-20 C. The drying should be done at a temperature of 2030 C. If a higher temperature is used, so much carbonic acid will be developed that the cover drops off, while if the temperature is too low, the cover does not become sufliciently porous.

In order to get the claimed developing of the carbonic acid at the stated temperatures during the manufacture of the electrodes and also to accumulate carbonic acid in the finally dried cover somewhat more of any suitable substance containing carbonic acid may be added.

In cases where it is desirable to increase the percentage of carbon in the molten metal, or to develop reducing gases in the sleeve of slag during the welding operation, more carbon may be added to the paste, either as pulverized pure carbon, or as any other substance, as carbids, which in the arc develop hydrocarbons or carbon monoxid or other reducing gases.

Should it be necessary to increase phosphorus and sulfur in the molten metal, the carbon may be added as charcoal made from the Wood of foliferous trees, as it contains more of these substances than pine wood.

Bone-charcoal in a pulverized state is also suitable for this purpose. Charcoal from pine wood is to be preferred. if a pure material is required.

In order to facilitate the forming of slag and to give the weld the desired percentage of silicon, the paste should contain from 30-140 grams KNaSiO in a finely powdered state, or corresponding silicate-combination with calcium, aluminium or other earth metals, or ferro-silicon.

To prevent irregular and dry peeling off from taking place (in use) as the working I end of the welding rod melts and expands a certain toughness in the cover is necessary.

For this purpose a proportion of a boron compound such as B 0 or B01 for instance 150 grams of B 0 may be added.

It must be observed that during the process those parts of the cover, which have oflinity for the iron or steel, unite there-with time exercising a reducing influence, as well as getting reduced themselves.

Depending upon the demands made on the weld, the nature of the substances constituting the cover varies. If for instance it is desirable to introduce manganese, the paste is mixed with manganese (Mn) in powdered state, for instance as ferromam ganese (spiegeleisen) or manganese-peroxid or manganite or braunite or other manganMese compound: for instance 50 grams n nickel in the form of Ni O or powdered nickel or for Welding of chrome steel these powders being of the kind usually found in the market.

In the case of soft steel, vanadium in the form of pulverized ferrovanadium, of the ordinary kind, is added, and when the weld is desired to be specially able to withstand corrosion, ferro-titanium in the form of pulverized FeOTi O or other suitable titanium compound is used.

It is clear that several other combinations of the above substances can in vary- While previously and at the same F01 the welding of nickel-steel is added pulverized ferromolybdenum is introduced,

ing proportions be used under the same or other conditions, and the materials men tioned are selected'merely as examples.

Sometimes it might be suitable to prepare two pastes, one of which contains those materials by which it isdesired to supply to the Welding material the required constitucuts, and the other which contains such materials which form the sleeve of slag. In

ghis case the metal rod will be dipped into he first-mentioned paste and then after this eating is dried, into the second-mentioned aste, or vice-versaL In every case hitherto mentioned where steel or iron is to be Welded the original Welding metal may preferably consist of:

Fe 99.440% 0 0.100% s1 0.150% Mn 0.300% P 0.001% s 0.009%

which has proved to be a useful composi jion- Many other compositions are also uitable, according to circumstances.

hollow or a tube may be used, wherein the substances that are to give the weld the 1 The rod can be of any desired shape, even anemproper chemical composition, arecontained,

It has beenascertained that the electrie;

are an iron or steel rod generally n ergo s the following chemical change.-

If therefore metal rods are used, com.-

need to form a crater.

Exhaustive trials have proved that carbon, silicon and -manganese increase the hardness of the applied metal indifferent ways according to their proportions.

The amount of carbon, silicon and manganese in the cover or sleeve can be calculated according to theamount which is lost in the slag in the form of gas, or otherwise. Thus the cover contains between 4 and 40 grms. of carbon, between 3 and 30 grms. of silicon and 2 to 12 grms. of manganese per kilo of iron or steel in the electrode. The above weights refer to the pure substance.

From this description it is possible either (a) by means of proper substances, contained in the cover, to obtain the required chemical composition, strength and tenacity in the added metal, (6) or keeping in-mind the reducing influence of the arc, to give the steel or iron rods used in welding certain work, such a composition that the weld gets the desired chemicalcomposition, strength and tenacity. If therefore the composition andstrength of the metal, which is to be welded, is known, it is possible, according to (a) and (b) to make a weld of practically the same composition which, as regards strength is within :L- 2 kilograms per square millimeter of the strength of the original material.

Steel. v Iron.

Before After Before After welding. welding. welding. welding.

f The strength of a metal depends princis" pally 'uponrits chemical compos1t1on. By changing, for example, the 'PIOPOI'tIOIIS of icarbon in' the steel, the strength of the ma- ,t'erial'will bevaried within certain limits.

' The influencing of the strength by work" ing of the material is of course 0 en to' .be treated with this invention as wel as with .not reduce t e important influence on the 1 4 1 .treat n e ir nd'st elab tthat will strength caused by the composition itself. 1;

a ..When the heat is sufliciently high, as,.for

'vexample, in an open hearth furnace, some part of the materials from the lining will always be reduced and carried over into the melt. That forms as known the characteristic difi'erence between acid and basic steel. The very same result is obtained by this invention, with only the slight difference that i the cover which here represents the lining will be full consumed in the electro e melts.

the same degree as .By the method herein the electric arc acts 1 accurately as an open hearth furnace fired electrically.

Having now particularly described and. ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,l declare that what I claim is:

v 1. The hereindescribed method of manu-f facturing electrodes for welding or soldermg -metals electrically, which consists in mixing together in a finely powdered state carbonates, carbon, oxids and silicates with a liquor and a carbonic acid developing material to a thin paste, dipping therem an iron rod until the same is coated with the paste, and leaving the coated rod to dry while standing in an inclined position thereby developing carbonic acid from the rod cover.

2. The herein described method of manufacturing electrodes for welding or soldering metals, which consists in mixing together in a finely powdered state CaCO K,C() ZrO Mg(), 0, KNaSi0 no, and HA1 sio with a liquor to a paste, dipping. therein an iron rod until it iscoated with the paste and leaving the coated rod to dry.

3. The herein described method of manuwith earth metals substantially as set forth to. a paste, dipping therein an iron rod until it is coated with the paste, and bringing about drying of the coated rod.

4. The herein described method of manu- I facturin electrodes for welding or soldering metals e ectr1cal1y, which consists in mlxlng 1,25 togetherin a finely powdered state carbonates, carbon, oxids and silicates with a. liquor, In testimony whereof I have hereunto seta carbonic acid developing mater1a1 and sub my hand in presence of two subscribing Witstances which form ingredients of the metal messes.

to be treated, to a paste, dipping therein an I OSCAR KJELLBERG. iron rod until the same is coated with the Vitnesses: paste, and bringing about drying of the E. JOHNSON,

coated rod. Ema MIDHOLM. 

